Stresses the crucial role that parents play in improving student motivation and achievement in school. Sees the parent-teacher conference as an invaluable tool for involving parents in their children's education and winning community support for public schools. Advises how to conduct a productive parent-teacher conference. (CH)

Reviews trends in Black economic progress and compares data for Black and White families. Describes how structural changes in families and income inequalities are symptoms of a growing Black underclass. Calls for policies to reduce joblessness among underclass men and increase child support by absentee fathers. (MW)

New Jersey's governor describes his state's response to the problems and needs of adolescents by creating the School-Based Youth Services Program. The program involves schools and community agencies in the provision of comprehensive services to teenagers, including mental health and family counseling, health services, and other interventions. (AF)

Verbal skills traditional in many Black communities were acquired by a pattern of socialization that was not as congruent with school use of written and oral language as the mainstream socialization process. The changing language use needs of the workplace present an educational challenge for both minority and mainstream populations. (Author/BJV)

Demonstrates that socio-economic factors such as family background are important in determining student achievement, but are reinforced by factors such as teaching and learning resources. Presents a study of student achievement in mathematics and science related to parental education and occupation and to type of school. (LS)

Maintains that educators can achieve instructional goals if students are provided with effective and interesting curricular activities. Describes the Entrepreneurship Economic Education Project in Clark County, Nevada. Asserts that it could serve as a model for community involvement in economics education. (CFR)

Reviews a book about the history of a small rural school in Braxton County, West Virginia. Argues that consolidation and eventual closure of this school resulted from political, economic, social, and cultural forces that failed to recognize the important relationship between the school and the community. Reflects on the reviewer's own previous…

Argues for a sociological analysis of effective schools as opposed to the positivist paradigm. Maintains that the practice of schooling cannot be separated from the broader social, cultural, and political aspects of the local community. Profiles four high schools and their educational philosophies. (MJP)

Overviews the problems California schools have recruiting bilingual teachers and presents a recruiting model originating in the San Bernardino County Fontana School District in cooperation with a major university. Components of the model include well-defined staffing policies, a career ladder for bilingual teacher aides and support for teacher…

Describes a space education center that was developed in a Utah elementary school as a spacecraft simulator. Highlights include funding methods; business and community participation; student programs, including field trip opportunities for other schools; and the use of technology, including videodisc, videotapes, computers, telephone systems, and…

Arts advocacy groups have managed to influence Canadian public policy and government priorities during a time of economic difficulty and have produced significant outcomes for the arts community. Legislation to establish an umbrella, national arts agency was defeated following criticism from arts groups. Advocacy groups will have to assume an even…

Research suggests urban community college students have ineffective study approaches and habits. A program teaching how to regulate behavior, cognition, and affect can be an important resource. One such program helps students monitor and control external and internal aspects of the learning environment, task and setting, others in the task…

Asserts that exposure to high-quality arts performances with accompanying educational experiences enlivens teaching and learning. Maintains that few schools have taken advantage of opportunities provided by arts-presenting institutions. Describes resources from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. (CFR)

Argues against placing the school in a lead position for delivery of services; and supports a community-based model in which diverse service providers, administrators, and institutions work collaboratively in a system of linked services. A community-based system would involve a consortium of existing agencies or a newly created entity. (SLD)

Daniel Webster Accelerated School in San Francisco (California) is one of two schools adopting the process of school change developed by H. M. Levin. An interview with Levin explains his philosophy of accelerated schools characterized by (1) unity of purpose; (2) school site responsibility; and (3) building on strengths. (SLD)